Manila Standard - 2022 April 28 - Thursday

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DOTR, MRT-3 EXTEND ‘LIBRENG SAKAY’ UNTIL MAY 30

NEWS / A3

VOL. XXXVI • NO. 72 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Laylo poll props BBM wide lead Marcos rating up to 64%, Leni at 21%

SURVEY FRONTRUNNER. Presidential aspirant Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. addresses the crowd during a rally in Misamis Oriental late Tuesday evening. Marcos has maintained his lead over other presidential bets in recent pre-election surveys. Ver Noveno

First case of Omicron subvariant detected in Baguio By Willie Casas and Vito Barcelo

VARIANT. This handout

HEALTH officials said Wednesday they have detected the first case of the more transmissible Omicron variant BA.2.12 in Baguio City. The new sublineage BA.2.12 was detected in a 52-year-old Finnish female who arrived from Finland on April 2, the Department of Health (DOH) said. The department said she was not required to undergo routine isolation at a quarantine facility since she was fully vaccinated and arrived asymptomatic. “The case then traveled to a university in Quezon City and then to Baguio City to conduct seminars. Nine days after her arrival in the country, she experienced mild symptoms such as headache and sore throat,” the DOH said. Next page

photo shows COVID-19 virions emerging from a cell in a laboratory in June 2021. Omicron appeared in November last year, becoming the latest variant of concern, following the previously dominant Delta strain. AFP

‘TESTING CUTS LEAVE WORLD BLIND TO COVID SPREAD’ NEWS / A2

By Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz

P

RESIDENTIAL survey frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has sustained a seemingly insurmountable lead in voter preference ahead of the May 9 elections, as his rating climbed to 64 percent according to the latest Laylo Research pre-election survey results conducted from April 14 to 20 and released on Wednesday.

With similar upward trajectories in previous surveys conducted by the polling firms Pulse Asia, OCTA Research, Social Weather Stations, and Publicus over the last two months, Marcos could even breach the 70-percent preference level when Filipinos troop to the polls in 12 days, his camp said Wednesday in a statement.

Meanwhile, the UniTeam of Marcos Jr. and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte took Cagayan de Oro City by storm Tuesday night, producing another grand rally that attracted tens of thousands of supporters. Mammoth crowds such as the one seen at the Pelaez Sports Complex in the “City of Golden Friendship” Next page

COVAX to replace expired vax doses By Willie Casas SOME 3.6 million expired COVID-19 vaccine doses will be replaced by the COVAX facility with no additional cost, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. Duque, during President Rodrigo Duterte’s taped Talk to the People that aired

on Wednesday, said they already met with COVAX representatives and requested them to replace not just the donated vaccines that are about to expire but also the ones the government bought. “COVAX has a stockpile of vaccines with a longer shelf life. They will replace our vaccines that have expired–which is Next page

National Press Duterte signs law granting reparations to victims of Marawi siege Freedom set every Aug. 30 By Macon Ramos-Araneta

AUGUST 30 of every year is now called “National Press Freedom Day” – but a working holiday if it does not fall on a Sunday. Under Republic Act 11699 signed April 13 by President Rodrigo Duterte, August 30 each year is declared National Press Freedom Day in honor of Marcelo H. del Pilar, the father of Philippine journalism. Del Pilar, who wrote under the pen name “Plaridel,” was born on August 30, 1890 in Bulacan and died on July 4, 1896 in Barcelona, Spain. To ensure the “meaningful observance and celebration” of National Press Freedom Day, all government agencies and instrumentalities, as well as the private sector, are directed to engage and participate in any related activity to be conducted on the premises of their respective offices or establishments. The directive covers the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, governmentowned and -controlled corporations, and the local government units. RA 11699, a copy of which was released Wednesday by Malacañang, mandates the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to lead public and private schools at all levels in organizing Next page

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law to provide monetary aid to victims of the 2017 Marawi siege. Republic Act No. (RA) 11696, signed by Duterte on April 13 and released to

reporters on Wednesday, provides for the creation of the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) headed by a chairperson and eight members. At least three members of the board must be members of the Philippine Bar, preferably Maranao lawyers, who have

been engaged in the practice of law for at least five years; two representatives must be members of civil society organizations where at least one of whom is either a Sharia lawyer or a Muslim traditional leader; other members must be licensed physician; certified public

LOCAL ABSENTEE VOTING STARTS WITHOUT GLITCHES

NEWS / A4

Film pulled out over scene of nine-dash line

11 to 13. By the time the elections are done and we’d already know who the new president is. The problem is if I attend the summit, I might take a stand Next page

Next page

Wednesday, April 27, 2022, during the start of the three-day local absentee voting. At the Manila Police District headquarters, Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco leads police absentee voters in exercising their right to suffrage. Norman Cruz and Danny Pata

Du30 won’t attend regional summit in Washington DC to be held from May 11 to 13. “I have an invitation in the US to join PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has de- ASEAN countries to have a dialogue clined an invitation to attend the United with President Joe Biden. The problem States-ASEAN summit in Washington, is the dates of the conference are May

Next page

HOLLYWOOD film “Uncharted” was pulled out from Philippine cinemas over a scene containing an image of the nine-dash line, an invisible demarcation that depicts China’s claims in the South China Sea. The Department of Foreign Affairs Wednesday said it requested the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board to reevaluate and pull out the screening of the adventure film, which stars Tom Holland, saying the nine-dash line image was “contrary to national interest.” In a response quoted by the DFA, MTRCB stated it had “ordered Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. to cease and desist from exhibiting the said motion picture, unless and until they are able to remove the objectionable scenes.” The MTRCB added Columbia had

ABSENTEE VOTING. Commission on Elections chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan casts his ballot at the Comelec office in Manila on

By Vito Barcelo

accountant; educator; and licensed civil engineer. Under the law, the MCB will facilitate the tax-free payment of reparations to “qualified claimants” who lost residential and commercial properties due


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